Wagner v. Air Methods Corp.

Decision Date17 May 2021
Docket NumberCivil Action No 19-cv-00484-RBJ
Parties Tom WAGNER, Matthew DeBrosse, John Glazier, James Howe, Kevin Moffitt, Laura Walker, Susan Brzezinski, Danielle Nowiski, Gene Stalsberg, Kristen Grado, George Ramey, Nikolas Repeta, and Stephanie Pauley, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. AIR METHODS CORPORATION, a Colorado corporation, Defendant.
CourtU.S. District Court — District of Colorado

Charles W. Arnold, Christopher D. Miller, Arnold & Miller PLC, Gerry L. Calvert, II, John Robert Cowan, Cowan Law Office, PLC, Lexington, KY, Christopher M. Moody, Repps David Stanford, Moody & Stanford, PC, Albuquerque, NM, for Plaintiffs Tom Wagner, Matthew DeBrosse, John Glazier, James Howe, Kevin Moffitt, Laura Walker, Susan Brzezinski, Danielle Nowiski, Gene Stalsberg, Kristen Grado, George Ramey, Nikolas Repeta.

Repps David Stanford, Christopher M. Moody, Moody & Stanford, PC, Albuquerque, NM, Charles W. Arnold, Christopher D. Miller, Arnold & Miller PLC, John Robert Cowan, Cowan Law Office, PLC, Lexington, KY, for Plaintiff Stephanie Pauley.

Darin L. Mackender, LaLonnie Gray, Fisher & Phillips LLP, Denver, CO, Lonnie Domonic Giamela, Fisher & Phillips LLP, Los Angeles, CA, for Defendant.

ORDER ON THE PARTIESCROSS MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

R. Brooke Jackson, United States District Judge

Plaintiffs, a group of flight paramedics and nurses who worked for Air Methods Corporation ("AMC") in Michigan, New Mexico, and Illinois, assert claims against their former employer under their respective states’ laws for overtime hours that they say were compensated improperly. Before the Court are plaintiffspartial motion for summary judgment [ECF No. 91] and defendant's motion for summary judgment [ECF No. 93]. For the reasons discussed below, both motions are granted in part and denied in part.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The only issue on summary judgment is whether the FLSA "sleep time" rule found at 29 C.F.R. 785.22 applies in Illinois, New Mexico, and Michigan. Under that rule, time provided to employees for sleeping during twenty-four-hour shifts is excluded from an employee's hours worked, for overtime purposes, if the employee can get at least five hours of uninterrupted rest. If the sleep time rule does not apply in a given state, plaintiffs from that state are owed additional compensation for overtime in yet-to-be-determined amounts. Therefore, apart from calculation of overtime hours worked and damages owed (if any), the facts in this case are undisputed. See ECF Nos. 91, 93, 98, 99, 100, and 101.

AMC provides emergency air medical services from bases out of Illinois, New Mexico, and Michigan.1 ECF Nos. 56 at ¶17; 67-1 at 6. AMC's bases in these three states operate twenty-four hours per day all year. ECF No. 67-1 at 6. The bases are equipped with at least one air ambulance and staffed by one pilot and two clinicians (generally, one flight nurse and one flight paramedic). Id. AMC employed plaintiffs as flight nurses or paramedics across the three states at issue here. Plaintiff Pauley worked in Illinois. ECF Nos. 56 at ¶15; 57 at ¶15. Plaintiffs Grado, Ramey, and Repeta worked in New Mexico. ECF Nos. 56 at ¶¶12–14; 57 at ¶¶12–14. Plaintiffs Stalsberg, Wagner, Brzezinski, DeBrosse, Glazier, Howe, Moffit, Walker, and Nowiski worked in Michigan. ECF Nos. 56 at ¶¶2–10; 57 at ¶¶2–10.

All plaintiffs and putative class members are non-exempt employees under the FLSA. AMC's Employee Handbook states that "[e]mployees classified as nonexempt are eligible for overtime pay as provided by applicable state law." ECF No. 91-19 at 2; see also ECF No. 91-20 at 2. The Employee Handbook also states, "[e]mployees are expected to report and remain at their assigned duty station for the entire shift, regardless of the operational status of the base (e.g., inclement weather, maintenance, out of service) and may not leave their assigned duty station during a working shift without a supervisor's permission." ECF No. 91-19 at 2. AMC's policy also states that "[t]ime worked is all the time actually spent on the job performing assigned duties, which includes learning time, supervisor time, administrative time, etc." ECF No. 91-21 at 2.

The flight paramedics and nurses staffed at AMC's bases are ready to respond to emergency calls at any time. ECF No. 67-1 at 6. They generally work two twenty-four-hour shifts each week. ECF No. 93-1 at ¶3. Flight paramedics and nurses enter into 24-Hour Shift of Duty Agreements ("24-hour agreements") with AMC at or around the time they begin their employment. Id. at ¶4; ECF No. 93-3. These agreements set out AMC's "sleep time" policy. Each 24-hour agreement includes the following provisions:

1. 24-hour shift. When an Employee is scheduled and works a 24-hour shift, Employee shall be paid their regular straight time rate of compensation for 24-hours. A sleep period of eight hours shall be regularly scheduled. AMC shall provide adequate dormitory facilities.
2. Scheduled Sleep Periods. The sleep period referred to in paragraph 1, above, shall be excluded from "daily time worked" and shall not be counted as hours worked. Nevertheless, AMC agrees that sleep periods shall be paid at the employee's regular rate of pay.
3. Sleep Interruption due to Emergency Call Outs. The period of interruption to the sleeping period shall be included in "daily time worked" and shall be counted as hours worked. If an employee cannot get at least five hours of uninterrupted sleep time (which need not be consecutive) the entire sleeping period shall be included in "daily time worked" and counted as hours worked.
4. Payment of Weekly Overtime. All time worked in excess of 40 hours in a single work-week will be paid at one and one-half times Employee's regular rate of pay.

ECF No. 93-3. AMC Senior Vice President Heather Dumas confirmed that "AMC pays straight time for the eight-hour sleep period, which employees log separately. If the clinician gets at least five (5) uninterrupted hours of sleep, AMC does not count such sleep period towards the overtime calculation." ECF No. 91-3 at ¶3.

AMC's sleep time policy means that employees are normally paid for their eight-hour sleeping shifts at their regular or base rate of pay, even if those hours would normally constitute overtime, i.e. those hours were in excess of the first forty hours an employee worked in a week. However, if an employee spends any part of that eight hours actually working, that specific time worked counts as "hours worked" and is thus compensated at the overtime rate if the employee has already worked forty hours that week. If an employee spends more than three of those eight hours working, i.e. if he or she gets less than five uninterrupted hours of sleep, the entire eight hours counts as "hours worked" and is thus compensated at the overtime rate. Practically speaking then, the AMC sleep time policy fails to compensate employees for sleep time actually used as sleep time at overtime rates, even though those hours often (in fact, typically) are worked in addition to an employee's first forty hours in the workweek.

AMC's sleep time policy applies nationwide (except for Kentucky), and AMC applied it the same way across Illinois, New Mexico, and Michigan. The policy has been in effect for the entire class period, i.e. at least from February 19, 2016 to the time these motions for summary judgment were filed. ECF Nos. 91-6 at 2; 91-7 at 2. The eight-hour sleep periods for flight paramedics and nurses are typically scheduled from ten o'clock P.M. to six o'clock A.M. during each twenty-four-hour shift. ECF Nos. 93-1 at ¶5; 93-5 at 40:11-15. AMC maintains designated sleeping facilities with beds at its bases for its paramedics and flight nurses. ECF Nos. 93-1 at ¶7; 93-4 at 60:14–61:3. Those employees can sleep, watch television, surf the internet, eat, make phone calls, or engage in other personal matters during the sleep period. ECF Nos. 93-1 at ¶9; 93-4 at 62:3-20.

All of the plaintiffs in this lawsuit were subjected to AMC's sleep time policy. ECF Nos. 91-8 at ¶4; 91-9 at ¶4; 91-10 at ¶4; 91-11 at ¶4; 91-12 at ¶4; 91-13 at ¶4; 91-14 at ¶4; 91-15 at ¶4; 91-16 at ¶4; 91-17 at ¶4; 91-18 at ¶4. Each plaintiff signed a 24-hour agreement with AMC reflecting their consent to the policy. ECF No. 93-3. AMC provided adequate sleeping facilities to all plaintiffs and putative class members. ECF Nos. 56; 93-1 at ¶8; 93-4 at 60:18–62:20; 101 at 3. Plaintiffs and putative class members usually enjoyed an uninterrupted night's sleep during their sleep period. ECF No. 56. If a plaintiff could not get at least five hours of uninterrupted sleep time, he or she would record the interruption. ECF Nos. 93 at ¶13; 93-5 at 41:9-21; 101 at 3. If a plaintiff recorded that he or she did not get at least five hours of uninterrupted sleep during a sleep period, AMC counted the entire eight-hour sleep period as hours worked. ECF Nos. 93-1 at ¶10; 101 at 3. However, all of the plaintiffs also worked shifts during which they received at least five hours of uninterrupted sleep time, and that time was not considered "hours worked" per AMC's policy. This is the case even though plaintiffs were not permitted to leave AMC's premises during the sleep period. ECF Nos. 91-8 at ¶5; 91-9 at ¶5; 91-10 at ¶5; 91-11 at ¶5; 91-12 at ¶5; 91-13 at ¶5; 91-14 at ¶5; 91-15 at ¶5; 91-16 at ¶5; 91-17 at ¶5; 91-18 at ¶5.

II. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs filed this class action lawsuit on February 19, 2019. ECF No. 1. They alleged violation of state wage and hour laws in Illinois, New Mexico, and Michigan, as well as unjust enrichment. Id. In October 2020 the Court heard argument on plaintiffsmotion to certify a class and defendant's motion to dismiss, which included discussion on the main issue in this case—whether Illinois, New Mexico, and Michigan have a "sleep time" exception to overtime that precludes plaintiffs from recovering in those states. ECF No. 84. The Court granted the...

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